


The Everlasting Question

by SquaryQ



Series: SessRin / SesshoumaRin C@ck [3]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Episode 162, F/M, forever with lord sesshoumaru, master ungai - Freeform, multi-chapter, sesshoumarin, third person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-10 08:15:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6975097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquaryQ/pseuds/SquaryQ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had been a thorn in her side, appearing near her even in old age, to question her motives and actions. He had lived to an ungodly age and mortality had not been the kindest to the weary old monk. His diciples had carried on his legacy but abandoned their weak leader and left him alone to a nomadic existence. They did not even give him the right to choose his own successor – they did that for themselves, ousting him from their league once the deed was done. </p><p>She had encountered him many times in her young life – meeting him as an eight year old child who refused to return to a human village, once again at age ten as the band of monks passed through Lady Kaede’s village, then with a purpose at age fourteen and happened upon her once more on his death bed – at the age of twenty one. </p><p>Four encounters that motivated the weary old monk to learn. Four encounters that baffled him for what remained of his lifespan. Four encounters with Lord Sesshoumaru’s companion, the fair young Rin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Brief Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I’m ill and dying with a stuffed up nose and sore throat, I have been told to refrain from revision because stress weakens the immune system. Therefore, I have writing time UwU  
> So, I present you a short fanfiction that I was talking about briefly to PulsingTenseiga (Guichelove) about previously, based around episode 162 of Inuyasha – Forever With Lord Sesshoumaru!

The first day that she had happened across the monk, he had startled her as she foraged, uprooting mushrooms so she and Jaken could eat something for dinner – she had had to travel rather far to acquire some sort of source of sustenance due to her fussy nature toward food. Sesshoumaru had always made sure to appease her pallet and therefore was willing to let her get the food which she enjoyed instead of eating morsels like Seshhoumaru and Jaken.

“You, girl, are you from the village at the mountain foot?”

Rin, unsure of who the men who had approached her actually were, shook her head meekly before springing to her feet and darting back toward A-Un.

“Wait! Where are you going?” The monk at the front of the formation shouts as he follows her, “Come back! I sense a demonic aura nearby! Come back, I said!”

But it was too late, the brown eyed girl with tufts of hair sticking out every which way, had already left. Moments later, a large demon leapt into the sky.

“A demon, just as I had thought!” he gasps, knowingly. His eyes widen slightly as he spots the little girl – riding a two headed dragon demon as if it were child’s play.

The monk at the front of the formation, Master Ungai stares up at the girl as she leaves.

“But who could that young girl be?”

Later that night, after a dispute between the harsh toad like demon, her Master Jaken, Rin lay looking up at the sky, feeling hurt and dejected, eyes brimming with raw emotion, tears fighting their way to be free from repression and slip from her eyes. She blinks them away.

_‘I’ll always be with Lord Sesshoumaru, forever and ever!’_

 


	2. The First TRUE Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The main body of episode 162!

The first true meeting that the young Rin had had with the grouchy monk had been the same night as the first encounter, having been bewitched by Ungokouki – a demon who kidnaps children. She had been there for a mere hour or six – not that she was counting, all she wanted was for the children to stop wailing about how the demon before her was scary.

 

Rin’s thoughts brim with impatience and malice toward the other children and their ignorance, though she could empathise with their fear, she was indifferent to the prospect of being afraid of a demon. Especially one who looked like a lizard with dotted eyebrows. It made no sense.

 

_‘Even Master Jaken had more fear ensuing capabilities within him, and that’s saying something,’_

 

From outside she could hear stirring and commotion, to which the demon himself investigated. He blew his flute before a group of adults appeared. They went to the demon’s lair and coaxed him out with busts of children made of reeds and kimonos.

 

The monks sprang upon Ungokouki and attacked, encircling him, holding out scared purification beads out toward him. The demon began to scream. As he was struck with sultras be became more frantic.

 

“Evil demon, be gone!” Master Ungai had shouted, pulses of lightning diminishing Ungokouki to a mere blue satanic flame.

 

The children within the cave with Rin were more than delighted when Master Ungai declared that he was there to rescue them. But Rin would not move from within the cave – simply holding her knees in wait for her Lord, certain he would come to rescue her.

 

It did not take too long for one of the children to inform the monk that she was still inside.

 

“What’s the matter?” he asked, approaching her with caution, unsure as to why she was unwilling to leave the cave.

 

“You again!” he gasped, staring at Rin. She looks up at him and says nothing.

 

“Come, I’ll take you back to the village.”                   

 

“I’ll be fine all by myself,” her tone certain as she looked away from the monk, reassuming her stance, holding her knees and waiting patiently.

 

Master Ungai’s brows furrow as he plucks the small light child into his arms and carries her out to the waiting group of children and his followers.

 

“Put me down! Let go of me now!” Rin squirms under his hold.

 

“Why do you struggle from your saviours?” the monk asks rather condescendingly.

 

A boy in a pale blue outfit points to Rin. She stares at him, willing him to be quiet but he speaks regardless, “She told us that humans are way scarier than demons!”

 

“What!” Master Ungai’s tone shifts from being one of impatience to one of sheer outrage.

 

His attitudes had been greatly questioned throughout this dank moonless night – first by the young and confrontational band of demon slayers, who were clearly acting with risk by wielding a demon sword and keeping two demons in their company as if they had been domesticated.

 

And now, he was being questioned and opposed by a mere child. At least in this instance he had enough authority to discipline the girl. Something about those demon slayers had tipped him off that old souls lingered in young vessels – even if they seemed young, they may have been smarter than they first appeared. However, condoning the actions and behaviours of demons was inexplicable in the eyes of the traditionalist and radicalist that is Master Ungai.

 

“How could you suggest such a fool idea? Anyway, there would be no way that you could survive alone in these mountains!” he scoffs in sheer disbelief.

 

“Sure I can!” the determined headstrong child squirms from within his clutches, “I can survive just fine! I can make it on my own!”

 

“I’ve heard enough of you, stubborn little girl.”

 

Rin grits her teeth at the man, continuing to flail her arms. She could not go back to a village! Never! The home is where the heart is and hers was with Lord Sesshoumaru, the demon lord who had saved her.

 

“You let me go, Mister. Just you wait! Lord Sesshoumaru will come for me!”

 

“Lord Sesshoumaru, you say?” The monk stares down at the young girl – had she been bewitched by a demon as an infant? There is no way that a child could be sane when interacting with demons. Especially ones of a rankly status. As much as Master Ungai hated the world of demons and wished to vanquish it, he acknowledged that, like humans, only supremely powerful demons would receive such a status as ‘Lord’.

 

He could not place the Demon Lord’s name however, he had heard of many powerful demons in the Southern regions, but this name was unfamiliar.

 

“I never want to go back to a village to live with humans!” Rin insists, her tears escaping her eyes as she argued her case – tears she had held back from her fight with Jaken, mixed with tears due to the feelings of loneliness. The memories of being treated poorly in a human village sprung to mind, the beatings, the bullying. She did not want to go back.

 

“Lord Sesshoumaru! Please help me!” she hollers.

 

Unbeknownst to Rin, her Lord had identified her location earlier, but wishing to avoid causing Rin harm had led to a second abduction. Feeling slightly irresponsible, he had simply stood, waiting out of the range of the senses of the monks and waited for her to cry out to him.

 

This being his cue, Sesshoumaru opened his eyes and began to walk through the wooded pathways, aware that he was being watched by his annoying pest of a half-brother in his weakened and mortal state.

 

Having stepped into range, the monk sensed him and threw a golden weapon of sorts, filled with purification salt toward Sesshoumaru. It explodes but it would only be befitting of a lowly demon to die at the hands of salt.

 

Standing in his companion’s line of sight, he sees her smiling brightly.

 

“Lord Sesshoumaru, you came!”

 

“It’s the same demon we saw the other day!” one of his followers gasps, staring at Sesshoumaru. He does not bat an eyelid at his acknowledgement and simply stares at Rin, who is again, resisting being taken to a village.

 

“What have you done, have you bewitched this young child!”

 

“Master Ungai!” A fearful follower says uncertainly, asking if they should be rid of this demon too.

 

He nods and the followers spring into action, “This demon’s foul aura must be dealt with!”

 

“Look out Lord Sesshoumaru!” Rin cries as the monks attempt to vanquish him using the same methods as they did for Ungokouki.

 

The monks spring upon Seshhoumaru and attack, encircling him, holding out scared purification beads out toward him. As he was struck with sultras he continues to stand still, almost smug that the monk’s leader believes that he could be killed as easily as that.

 

“Demon, be gone!” Master Ungai had shouted, pulses of lightning strike Sesshoumaru. Bright white light covering him from head to toe and expanding outward.

 

“Lord Sesshoumaru!” Rin cries out, reaching her hand out toward the light, fearing his death, but he simply stands in his place. Once the spell is through, he continues to approach Rin.

 

“Master, he is still alive!”

 

“Be brave men, immobilise the demon at once!”

 

“Yes, Master!” they say in unison, returning to encircle Sesshoumaru, each man puts two fingers to their lips. “Ung!”

 

A circle of rich blue flame circles Sesshoumaru, keeping him from taking another step toward Rin. Blue strands of electricity bounce off the demon.

 

Master Ungai leaps into the air, stabbing the ground with his staff. “EVIL DEMON BE GONE!”

 

Lightning explodes through the staff and shoots toward Sesshoumaru, who reaches for his sword.

 

He furrows his brows at the intensity of the power coming from mere humans, feeling his human form go under scrutiny and attempting to shift without being willed to.

 

A growl escapes Sesshoumaru’s lips as his aura transforms to a sinisher red.

 

“He’s exposing his true nature!” Master Ungai shouts.

 

Rin does not take her eyes off Sesshoumaru. His hand shakes as it hovers above his face, eyes now burning a crimson, like the blood of mortals. Teeth bared he attempts to resist and restrain himself. Though his demon form is the most powerful, it is also the most vulnerable; he has nothing to hide behind in that position.

 

His aura twists and contorts, eyes flashing brighter than before and with that the sacred beads break free of their string and the gem on Master Ungai’s staff shatters into pieces. Sesshoumaru is too powerful to be vanquished by a human.

 

The men are knocked down, including Master Ungai. Rin wriggles free of his grasp.

 

“I’ve never seen such terrible power!”

 

Walking toward Sesshoumaru, Rin feels better. She does not notice that Inuyasha and his friends are peering out from the trees not far from which Sesshoumaru destroyed with his powerful aura and resistance to humans.

 

“Rin.”

 

“Yes?” she asks.

 

“Follow me if you so choose.” He says, before turning away.

 

“Yes,” she sighs dreamily, readying herself to burst into a run. But her hand is grasped by the weary monk.

 

“Don’t go, he’s an evil spirit! He is a demon! Not someone a human child should follow!”

 

“Let me go!” she shouts, beginning to leave.

 

“Come back, girl! Humans and demons live in different worlds.”

 

“Haha! Wait for me!” she exclaims before pausing, Master Ungai’s words registering in her head.

 

Jaken’s words resonate with her then – ‘Once Milord’s empire is established you’ll be long gone!’

 

“You know I’m right so let’s go back!”

 

She shrugs off the thought and smiles at the monk, waving and running after her lord.

 

“Why did she go? Why did she leave with him?”

 

The next morning, he encountered the young band of demon slayers once again. He glares at the now white haired half-demon to which he had encountered the night before.

 

“You got something to say or are you just happy to see me?” Inuyasha demands.

 

Kagome seizes his ear, “You stubborn mule, come on, lose the attitude, would ya?”

 

“What’s your problem?” Inuyasha demands, balling a fist, “I didn’t do anything, we were just talking!”

 

“It’s that attitude that’s the problem here!” Kagome waves her finger, chiding the half-demon.

 

“Young woman,” Master Ungai approaches the fifteen year old girl, “Perhaps you could enlighten me, why do you stay with a demon?”

 

“Huh?” Kagome blinks, confused at the shift in attitude that Master Ungai appears to have had. Was that a reference to a bond greater than friendship, or is he simply referring to their state of companionship?

 

“Forget it, it’s nothing.”

 


	3. The Second Offical Fleeting Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At age ten, Master Ungai passes through Lady Kaede's village, happening across a certain brown haired girl and a half-demon.

Two years after her last encounter with Master Ungai, Rin, and Inuyasha, met him again.

 

The cloudless sky looks down upon the people in the village, tending their crops and dealing with the daily hassles of growing rice. The presence of Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Kirara and Shippo originally caused a disturbance here. It was Lady Kaede who argued that since Lady Kikyo had bound Inuyasha to that tree not far from the bone eater’s well, he had technically always been a resident in this village. The addition of demon slayers would only help the village prosper in the future after all – being able to destroy those who threaten the village’s serenity in the stead of the weary old Lady Kaede.

 

He and his league of monks, simply passing through the western lands, to go to the South once again. They cut through the late Lady Kaede’s village, unnerved by the sheer amount of demonic activity, happening across a familiar fox demon, chasing a very familiar brown haired girl with hair that tufts in all different directions. She’s taller now and wears a different kimono – peachy pink with darker swirls upon it. She laughs as she prances through the village.

 

“You.” Master Ungai gasps, staring with wide eyes at the girl living in the demon village.

 

“I would appreciate it if you leave me alone, Mister, for I have done you no harm.” Rin says, folding her arms, Shippo having clambered onto her hair.

 

Master Ungai cannot contain his disgust at the young fox demon’s actions.

 

“What changed your mind, little girl?”

 

“Nothing changed my mind, Mister,” her tone is sour at the confrontation, “I am still loyal to Lord Sesshoumaru.”

 

Master Ungai glares at the young girl, stiffening as a familiar half demon with snow white hair comes bounding over.

 

“I would advise you to stay away from her.” Inuyasha tucks Rin behind his body slightly – as much as he and his brother always butt heads, being slaughtered for not acknowledging Rin’s value, even though he had acknowledged Kagome’s, would lead to an untimely slaughter.

 

“And why is that, demon?”

 

“Because!” Shippo says from atop of Rin’s hair, “Sesshomaru won’t be passive and accept your blows if harm comes to Rin!”

 

The child nods her head stubbornly. The monk shakes his head. To think he believed she had made progress in life and transitioned into living in a human village, but no – this is a village infested with demons he had no right to exterminate.

 

“Be wise child and stay in a village – do not venture out into the forest.”

 

“I will not promise you a thing. I will go wherever Milord goes.”

 

“You say that yet you are here – where is the foul demon if you are following him?”

 

Rin shrugs her shoulders, “He comes when I ask him to.”

 

This was not a lie explicitly and both Inuyasha and Shippo knew that – aware that every time she cried for him over something significant he would somehow make an appearance, but if it was petty he would not – almost as if he could feel a disturbance in his serenity when she was uneasy.

 

The Demon Lord was ignorant to human behaviour and naturalistic events. Another reason why Lady Kaede was able to sway him into letting Rin stay in the village. The village elder weary as she is, had laughed at Sesshoumaru’s neglect of understanding menstruation. She also found it amusing how little he knew about the power and potential development of respect – what may come of Rin if she is not nurtured in her tender years of overall confusion. She may lash out and the environments where Sesshoumaru’s vow for conquest lead him are not always the most forgiving.

 

It was those few factors that keep her from him. But they know it is not permanent – they decided that when Rin turns eighteen, the same age Kagome was upon her decision to stay in this world with Inuyasha, she can choose whether to remain in the village or continue onward with Sesshoumaru, Jaken and A-Un.

 

“I’m not convinced.” The monk declares, marching his men onward and as far away from that village as possible.

 

Rin looks to Inuyasha, stepping around him, “Why did you protect me Lord Inuyasha?”

 

“I protected you in order to keep that leech from you.”

 

“How do you know about him, Lord Inuyasha?”

 

“Because…” he pauses, had Rin not acknowledged him on the night of the new moon? Had she not realised he and his companions had watched the entire display wide eyed and open mouthed?

 

“Because?”

 

“Because Miroku told me about him.”

 

“Lord Miroku told you about him?” she stares up at Inuyasha.

 

He takes her hand and leads her slightly out of the village’s core – sitting on a bed of wild flowers on the outskirts of the village.

 

“Miroku told me that he was a traditional monk who did not condone any interconnection between humans and demons – saying we don’t live in the same worlds, saying we cannot love the same things, see the same things, and believed that demons need to be vanquished.”

 

“Do you think that is why he didn’t want me to leave with Lord Sesshoumaru on that day, Lord Inuyasha?”

 

“I do, Rin.”

 

“What shall I do?”

 

“I do not think he will happen upon you very frequently, Rin,” Inuyasha looks over his shoulder – one more day until he shall return to the Bone Eater’s Well and wait for Kagome. He had been doing that every three days for the last two years.

 

In a way, he understood Rin – both of them would sit like ducks waiting for their beloved to return. As much as it disgusted him to think of how Rin sees his older brother, he does not state his concerns. Sesshoumaru’s devotion to Rin had been demonstrated time and time again, each time she had faced a near death experience, he was the one to save her. Every time that she had been unhappy, he would help her to the best of his abilities.

 

Inuyasha knew that his current standpoint about Kagome was similar – waiting for the one he loves to reappear in the village and take him wherever she wants to be. At this rate, he would be willing to spend the whole of his life wearing a bandana and hiding his demon heritage to be with her in her world. He would do anything to be with her again.

 

Yes, they did understand each other. They really did.


	4. The Third Harsh Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On one of the days Sesshoumaru always visits the young Rin, Master Ungai makes another appearance.

“In the mountains… In the forest…In the wind…In my dreams…Lord Sesshoumaru, where are you? With your faithful Master Jaken always at your heels…I will wait alone…For the return of Lord Sesshoumaru.”

 

Rin, having clambered up a tree has a great vantage point – today is one of the set dates he always visits her on, and to get to the village and NOT scare all of the inhabitants, he must walk through the woods and through the rice fields.

 

Something about her youthful ignorance to being watched made her the ideal prey for Master Ungai’s plan – he just had to get her out of the tree so he could bind her and then kill the demon that has corrupted her mind.

 

That young girl’s actions were still grilled into his mind – why were people attempting to bridge the gaps between human and demonic society? Like those who carry the children of demons and those who try to befriend demons. And especially those who attempt to domesticate and integrate demons into human society.

 

Master Ungai moves toward where the girl is up the tree, allowing his shadow to indicate a male presence is coming toward Rin.

 

Rin, seeing a shadow beneath her and scrambles out of the tree, still singing her song. But then notices, once on the ground who it is. She frowns and approaches the tree to get back into position to scare her Lord.

 

Master Ungai shakes his head, holding his staff to her neck, “Why do you stay with demons, girl?”

 

“Why do you not?” she counters.

 

“Men, bind her!”

 

“WHAT?”

 

“Yes, Master,” his nine disciples nod, speaking with one voice.

 

They rush toward her and back her toward a tree, tying her to the trunk. This meant that if Sesshoumaru really did care for Rin, he would accept his own death and not resist when compared to the last time.

 

The disciples flee the scene, running into the mouth of Inuyasha’s village. Their fear of the inevitability alarms Master Ungai. And their presence in the village causes a disturbance. Leaving Miroku and Sango behind to watch their children, Kagome, having only recently returned to the Feudal Era, leapt onto Inuyasha’s back and they ran through the village in search of the carnage.

 

That is when Sesshoumaru appears. After over twenty cycles of Rin’s childish song to Sesshoumaru, Master Ungai was getting impatient with the lack of punctuality expressed by the demon lord.

 

As Rin begins again, a familiar shadow casts itself upon the woodland. Inuyasha and Kagome hide within the trees. How would they do this, how can they keep Sesshoumaru and Rin safe. Inuyasha’s eagerness to keep his brother alive alarms Kagome.

 

“Look at Rin, Kagome,”

 

Night is approaching now – thankfully, this year, the anniversary of Rin’s arrival in the village has landed in the night of the full moon. Inuyasha, in a short while, will be completely untraceable through demonic aura. Kagome readies an arrow to pierce a sultra. All they need to do is keep Rin out of harm’s way and keep Sesshoumaru from slaughtering the village.

 

“Lord Sesshoumaru!” the brownhaired young woman exclaims, eyes shining with delight – this is one of the only times he visits her, glee fills her heart and expels from her aura, completely throwing Master Ungai off as the sun sets and mortality dawns upon the half demon.

 

“Rin.” Sesshoumaru greets her, “Why are you bound, Rin?”

 

“I do not know exactly, Milord.”

 

“The little girl is helping me with an old unfinished job.”

 

“Aren’t you the pitiful man who attempted to slay me five years ago?”

 

“Six years ago.” The monk corrects, tone harsh and sharp, “And today I shall finish the job.”

 

Sesshoumaru smirks, very much aware of the presence of Inuyasha and Kagome.

 

“Men, immobilise the demon!”

 

“Yes, Master!” the followers of Master Ungai ascend upon the forest; each man puts two fingers to their lips. “Ung!”

 

A circle of rich blue flame circles Sesshoumaru, keeping him from taking another step toward Rin, who stands rather relaxed considering the fact that we are. Blue strands of electricity bounce off the demon.

 

Master Ungai leaps into the air, stabbing the ground with his staff. “EVIL DEMON BE GONE!”

 

Lightning explodes through the staff and shoots toward Sesshoumaru, who reaches for his sword.

 

He furrows his brows at the intensity of the power coming from mere humans, feeling his human form go under scrutiny and attempting to shift without being willed to.

 

A growl escapes Sesshoumaru’s lips as his aura transforms to a sinisher red.

 

“He’s exposing his true nature!” Master Ungai shouts.

 

Rin does not take her eyes off Sesshoumaru. His hand shakes as it hovers above his face, eyes now burning a crimson, like the blood of mortals. Teeth bared he attempts to resist and restrain himself. Though his demon form is the most powerful, it is also the most vulnerable; he has nothing to hide behind in that position.

 

Inuyasha creeps toward the tree to which Rin is bound, treading lightly and and Kagome wait in wake, she stands poised to strike the first sultra that flies – the trick will be to make sure it does not hit RIn.

 

“Hey, Mister, can you let me out now?”

 

The young girl’s voice distracts the monk, turning away from Sesshoumaru. The demon, in a liminal state waits for his brother to realease Rin so he can resist his constraints and blow the monks sky high.

 

A sultra is thrown toward Sesshoumaru just as Inuyasha unties Rin. She crouches down a split second before Kagome pins the paper to the tree.

 

“You!” Master Ungai gasps, acknowledging Kagome’s presence. The monks begin to shudder and shake when they spot Inuyasha, in mortal form, now giving Rin a piggy back.

 

Sesshoumaru reacts as soon as Inuyasha, Kagome and Rin move out of range – his aura shifts to a neutral clear to a bloodthirsty crimson- expanding outward and annihilating the trees nearby. The monks are thrown backward and Master Ungai topples onto his knees.

 

“Inuyasha.”

 

“Don’t mention it.”

 

“Please.” Kagome adds; manners and a good attitude makes things easier, or at least, back in the 21st Century they did. Sesshoumaru nods his head, internally grateful to not need to repay his half-brother and his wife for keeping Rin out of danger.

 

“Rin.” The demon looks to the fourteen year old girl on Inuyasha’s back.

 

“Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru?” She asks.

 

“I will visit you again under better circumstances. Later.”

 

“Wait!” she shouts, jumping off Inuyasha’s back and running after her lord who had already began to leave through the path of destruction, “Wait for me!”

 

“Some people never learn,” Master Ungai says, brushing himself off.

 

“You do realise the same can be said about you, Master Ungai,” Inuyasha cannot keep the scorn from his voice, “You’ve approached Rin twice since that night in a bid to get to Sesshoumaru – he’s too strong to be beaten by human attacks – get that through your skull!”

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome chides, folding her arms.

 

"Touche, demon, however, the same can be said about any who are tolerant to your hellish nature."


	5. Their Final Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter of my short story, set between the first two chapters of 'Doggy Ears'.

 The fair skinned princess glides through the grounds of her castle – it lays in the place of her original village and as much as she had initially felt uneasy about that, she grew comfortable being back where she was born –with the man, not that he really acknowledged himself as such, that she loved. Her Lord had taken her here, given her one more gift and departed on business, only returning after a few weeks of Rin’s lonliness. She had had company, human and demonic alike – A-Un had stayed in the castle and Kouhaku had come by because he was exterminating a demon that was threatening a mountainous village – well, more like an infestation.

 

“In the mountains… In the forest…In the wind…In my dreams…Lord Sesshoumaru, where are you? With your faithful Master Jaken always at your heels…I will wait alone…For the return of Lord Sesshoumaru.” The song which carried her through adolescence continued to simply flow from her lips when she was alone.

 

He would be camping out in the village on this particular night and Sesshoumaru is due to return in mere moments – he had gone out with Jaken to get whatever Rin wanted – at this point, she wanted any form of herb that kept her from feeling unbearably queasy.

 

The weather had worsened in recent hours, thunder cracks and lightning flashes indicating that Rin would be alone for a while. Or so she had thought.

 

Halfway through the heaviest part of the storm, the gates to the castle are heaved open. She had thought it was Sesshoumaru, so actively threw the doors of the castle open to welcome her sodden husband and travelling companion to their home. But it wasn’t them – instead a weak weary monk, malnourished with blood seeping through his robes, he uses a golden staff to hold himself upright.

 

Rin stares at the man for a moment, she moves into the castle once again and grabs an old kimono she could not part with from her younger days. Using it as an umbrella; she walks into the rain and takes the elderly man by the hand and helps him inside.

 

“Thank you for your hospitality to a dying old man, princess.” His raspy voice holds a familiar quality to it which makes her freeze. Her gaze shifts from the old man to his staff and she cannot help but shudder. Master Ungai.

 

Rin is cautious as she gets ready to help the monk, she sets up a spare bed for the man and tells him that she can ready him a bath, not that many would regard an old rice bale that fills with rain water a sufficient bath – but once A-Un burns some coals then its much warmer and refreshing.

 

The old man does as Rin tells him to. The young woman cannot help but laugh to herself as she readies his bath, behind a closed screen with another kimono umbrella of course. This is probably the first time that she would ever be treated with respect by Master Ungai, and that is probably due to the dark skies and lack of Sesshoumaru.

 

Moving as hastily as she dares, Rin leads the monk to the awaiting bath. Just as she does so, the gates to the castle swing open and she can already hear the crabby Jaken complaining about how he is wet.

 

“If you had been so concerned about the weather, Jaken, you could have stayed here.” Sesshoumaru affirms as Rin goes back into the main room of the castle folding the two wet kimonos.

 

The door opens and Rin cannot help but smile at the two soggy demons – Jaken looks more irked than Sesshoumaru. The toad demon lifts his hat and water falls onto the floor, the spill moving toward the new bed for the weary old Master Ungai.

 

“Is Kouhaku visiting again, Rin?” Jaken asks.

 

“No, a weary old monk happened across the castle in the rain – I offered him refuge for the night due to the storm.”

 

“Compassionate as always, Rin.”

 

“Thank you, Lord Sesshoumaru!” she exclaims, eyes shining.

 

“How are you feeling?” Jaken asks as he rings out his robes – as indifferent as he had been toward Rin in youth, he held great respect for the girl because his lord had chosen her to bear an heir to his empire.

 

Fourteen years ago, the small toad demon would have been completely against the idea of his lord fathering a half-demon and by birth right alone, the child being the one to inherit the empire if he or she shall choose. But after seeing the world become slightly more liberal about half-demons, and the birth of Inuyasha and Kagome’s young son Taisho, had led him to realise that as long as the child had power, nothing else really did matter. Not only that, but if it were Sesshoumaru’s young child growing within Rin, the heir would hold incredible power.

 

Sesshoumaru rests a hand on her stomach, though her small baby bump is concealed by the layer of robes she wears. She laughs brightly, teasing about his poised claws.

 

Hearing the commotion from the next room over disturbs the elderly monk from his bath – he decides to finish in the water as soon as possible. It does not take too long for the monk to have finished in the bath and have redressed himself within his robes which were drying thanks to A-Un.

 

He pads his way into the main room and stares, opened mouthed at what he sees – the princess who had welcomed him into her castle, with a very familiar looking demon, resting a hand upon her stomach. His eyes bulge out of his sockets – alarmed, suddenly recognising the young woman’s face.

 

In the last eight years, Rin had matured beautifully, wearing her hair in two long bunches away from the rest of it, which time and gravity finally taming the mad tufts that would jut out randomly. Her eyes still shine as bright as stars, an enchanting innocent brown which greatly contrasts with her past. Her kimono is ornate and compliments Sesshoumaru’s perfectly – a pure white body just like his, with a black front to mimic is breastplate - red blossoms decorating the sleeves and hem, with a yellow and violet scarf covering her waist. The layers of the kimono make her out to be thin and completely not pregnant.

 

The monk looks conflicted – clearly in ill health, he would have a death wish to go out in the middle of this stormy night. But being in the same castle as multiple demons and a woman who is carrying the unearthly spawn of one is unheard of for Master Ungai.

 

Sesshoumaru looks at the monk with dismissive eyes, “Time has been cruel to you.”

 

“Milord is right!” Jaken nods his head, folding his arms.

 

The monk coughs and splutters as he stares at the demons.

 

“Incredibly cruel,” Rin murmurs before approaching him. Master Ungai steps away from Rin.

 

“I should exorcise this castle, have it be rid of the evil.”

 

“Mister, it is not in your body’s best interest to attempt an exorcism, right now.” Rin rests a hand on his shoulder.

 

He shakes his head stubbornly.

 

“Lord Sesshoumaru?” Rin looks to her husband with hopeful eyes.

 

Though his expression is stoic, she is almost certain that internally, the demon lord has seized Jaken by the head, mounted A-Un and ridden away to keep Rin happy.

 

“If you so please I will depart.” Sesshoumaru says, “But do not cause yourself excessive strain to aid the old man.”

 

“I will keep our child safe and healthy, Milord.”

 

The monk grimaces, settling down and sitting upon the bed Rin made for him.

 

“I wish to exorcise you – little girl.”

 

“I would rather you leave me in peace, from the state of you it seems apparent that you do not have long left.”

 

“I am aware, but for such a promising young life to have been corrupted since youth, you do not know prosperity – you have fallen ill to his presence.”

 

“Mister, you are blind to adaptations due to being starved of societal interaction. The integration of demons into human society and humans into the world of demons is inevitable. Humans are scarier than demons because they kill for no reason. Demons are more accepting of half-demons and I’m sure when more quarter demons emerge, they will be accepted in both societies – in order to neutralise the threat of the abhuman we must not ostracise the abnormal.” Rin says as the old man coughs again, a mouthful of blood escaping his lips.

 

“Tell me this then, little girl, why do you stay with a demon?”

 

“Why do I stay with Lord Sesshoumaru?” Rin pauses to ponder the question. Why exactly did she stay with him? Why did she deal with his stubbornness and distance? Why did she endure periods of absence for the sake of his empire?

 

“Because I love him.”

 

“Only a fool would perceive that they could hold human affection with a monster,” Master Ungai counters.

 

“But I do love him – he has saved me from death too many times to count, protected me from danger and all to repay one inadequate act of kindness. He was willing to wait for ten years for me to make the decision to follow him again and to be with my Lord makes me happier than any life humans could give me. I respect your displeasure with the way demons are but they are not all as twisted and bloodthirsty as Ungokouki. And Lord Sesshoumaru and the child I hold are testament that demons have the capacity to change.”

 

“They can?” he collapses onto the pillows, too weak to stand up – he can feel his spirit wearing away as he finally begins to acquire the answer to a question on his mind for over a decade.

 

“They can. I am the first to acknowledge that Lord Sesshoumaru was not always the most merciful, but his aim of nationwide conquest has led to a steadier society in their world, with considerably less inter-species conflict. Thunder demons no longer hunt fox demons. When Lady Kagome unsealed Lord Inuyasha from his tree, and Lord Sesshoumaru continued his search for Tessaiga, he became adaptable. According to Master Jaken, Lord Sesshoumaru has changed very much since he saved me from death at the hands of wolf demons. He’s more human than demonic. And as a demon, that is probably astounding to you.”

 

“So you stay with him, because you see past his demonic aura and see what’s behind it?” Master Ungai croaks.

 

“Yes. That is why I stay with Lord Sesshoumaru.”

 

“Thank you little girl, I’m glad you could answer my last question.”

 

The old weary monk closes his eyes, as if to go to sleep. And having finally answering his question set his soul free from the world.


	6. BONUS - Yukiko, Taisho and The Successor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was spontaneous but I was suddenly inspired to write what would happen if Master Ungai's followers were to encounter the children of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Young Lord Taisho is the first son of Inuyasha and Kagome, after him, they have two other children. A son, Koga and a daughter Kikyo.   
> Sesshoumaru and Rin have since had two more sons, Haku and Kou, each named after Kouhaku, the brother of Sango

 

The two adolescent fractional demons settle next to one another as the embers burn by the small campfire they had set up – by the looks of the sky they had one more day to reach a cave and hide within it for the night of the new moon.

 

The duo both have stark snow white hair, inherited from their fathers, as well as pointed dog ears resting atop of their heads. The older of the two is muscular with wide shoulders and chocolate brown eyes. His skin is considerably peachier than his female companion and cousin. He wears robes and garbs of red and white, the colour scheme of his parents as he dedicated himself to a nomadic conquest of the self – as the first known quarter demon, he was eager to find his place in the world and had actively ventured to many places in order to find out.

 

During this time he happened upon his father’s half-brother’s eldest daughter, his cousin. The fair Yukiko and first daughter of Rin was beautiful to say the least – inheriting her colouring from her father yet looked like a clone of her mother at that age. Her figure was thin and well hidden beneath her own clothing – she favoured shorter clothing for fighting rather than protective ones like her cousin, the Young Lord Taisho, as he was known in the West.

 

They both could smell the approaching humans but felt little concern about their presence for Yukiko knew that a demon on the eastern border of her father’s lands was stirring up trouble. If the humans were to cause conflict with Yukiko and her cousin, Taisho, Sesshoumaru would intercept and slaughter them in the most humane and tasteful way possible.

 

The demons that had been causing trouble were rumoured to be a mated pair – a dynamic duo that derived pleasure from causing pain to the humans they shared an existence with. The demons lived within the mountain range above Taisho and Yukiko. They were beyond aware that when fighting demons they are not necessarily as assured to be victorious as when battling with humans. Demons do not always regard half-demon children positively after all, and when wielding swords as powerful as the ones the pair had between them, they were sat like ducks waiting to be shot at.

 

The smell of humans was becoming stronger – had the villagers continued to hunt the demons themselves? Or had they even hired a qualified demon slayer?

 

Yukiko could sense her father’s presence too – could feel his overbearing demonic aura and was very much aware that an adult pure dog demon was bound to be able to smell her from where he stood and would be able to approach her within minutes if the approaching humans were to cause any problems.

 

“You there!” a voice echoes through the trees before the men are seen. Taisho stands up – his breastplate glistening in the light of the fire, “Are you two the ones causing the commotion at the village near to the mountain foot?”

 

A group of over five monks emerge into Yukiko’s line of sight, the pattern of their clothes striking her as familiar but the staff sending shivers down her spine – said staff, minus the gem in the middle was stabbed into the grounds of her home to honour the great Master Ungai who passed away there when her mother had been pregnant with her.

 

These must be his disciples.

 

Yukiko pulls Taisho to the floor and casts a harsh glare at him as if to tell him to not cause any trouble.

 

“We are the followers of the late Master Ungai and if you value what is human in your veins I would tell me what I want to know before I exorcize you.”

 

“We have nothing to do with the happenings at the mountain foot, we are merely passing through.”

 

“I do not believe you!” the head monk declares.

 

“How do you expect us to prove it?” Taisho demands, eyes blazing and ears twitching. Yukiko cannot help but roll her eyes – the Young Lord Taisho had inherited his father’s knack for being headstrong.

 

“He does have a point.” Yukiko thinks aloud.

 

“Screw this!” Taisho draws his sword, from the sheath he carries on his back – the fine blade resembling a human katana yet has a sinister blue aura, light pulsating from its surface.

 

A shout comes from one of the disciple’s lips as he tosses a sultra at Taisho, who cuts it in half with the sword crafted from Lord Inuyasha’s fang. The aura surrounding it decipates as the sultra flutters to the floor, rendering the sword useless for the time being as the fang feeds off Taisho’s demonic aura.

 

Yukiko rests her hand on the sheath around her waist – she carries three blades here. Of the three, the first blade her fingers dance upon is her most comfortable blade, one she commissioned from Totosai when she first ventured into the real world – having pulled a fang from her gum. This sword, her sword was a literal extension of herself – an extra limb that was one hundred percent Yukiko and therefore bound to act to her will. Taisho, relying more so on his father’s sword, looks somewhat stricken and uncertain as to what he can do now that the monks had beaten his weapon.

 

“Provide us with substantial evidence that you have not been here for an extended period! I am certain I have seen you two here before. Men, prepare to perform the exorcism!”

 

Taisho makes a fist before giving Yukiko a fearful glance. The golden eyed half-demon simply sighs and stands up, having been kneeling on the floor the monks had no idea how short and potentially risqué her clothing would be viewed as. Some may call it risqué and provocative, others such as Taisho appreciate it and would deem the clothing to be dynamic and convenient.

 

“I’m sure you would remember me if I had been near you, wouldn’t you? I’m sure my name would come racing from your lips yet I know the only name you would recognise would be that of my father’s.”

 

She can sense it – the monk’s agitation and discomfort – and the intensity of a familiar demonic aura approaching her at God’s speed.

 

“Yukiko.” He now stands within sight and approaches as if he had not ran several miles to ensure her safety.

 

“That is Sesshoumaru! The demon lord who rules the west!” one of the disciples shrieks.

 

“Master Ungai spent his whole life trying to exterminate him!”

 

“Does that mean that the demon killed him?”

 

“I did not bring harm to your pitiful excuse of a Master.”

 

“If those are his children then we are doomed!”

 

“No, do not be stupid – this is merely coincidental – these have to be the culprits!”

 

“We have done nothing to disrespect the order of my father’s lands!” Yukiko affirms stomping her foot.

 

“But Master Furi!” one of the new leader’s men protests, “Couldn’t these be the children of the young girl this demon bewitched?”

 

Sesshoumaru’s eyebrows raise while Yukiko’s air of composure completely crumbles. Her head begins to whirl, and as she snakes her fingers around her sword, she finds herself casting a sultry glance at the leader of the band of monks, her long lashes framing the eyes which mirror her fathers.

 

“My mother was not bewitched.” She says firmly, tone authoritative, and not the slightest way seductive. Sesshoumaru observes as his half-demon daughter saunters toward Master Furi, this new head monk moving his hands to cover his upper legs and glaring at Yukiko while Taisho snorts.

 

“Way to go, Yukiko!” he howls, laughing scornfully at the humans.

 

“I believe that it would be best if you leave me be and found the demons living within the mountains.”

 

The new leader gulps and scurries away, leading the band of monks back toward the village from which they came.

 

Yukiko’s father cannot help but smile at his oldest child, his heir. The smile was small but she could see it and that was what mattered.

 

“Yukiko, I see you have fallen into the company of your cousin. Are you both well?”

 

“I am well, father.” Yukiko bows her head, demonstrating her similar ranking.

 

“I too am well, Lord Uncle Sesshoumaru.” Taisho bows his body as well, reflecting his perception that his uncle and cousin were more powerful than he is.

 

“I am pleased to hear that you are well,” Sesshoumaru takes a step toward the mountain before pausing to look at his nephew who did indeed resemble the demon he had been named after, “Young Taisho.”

 

Sesshoumaru appreciated his brother's eagerness to honour his late father, but could not bring himself to call his nephew by just 'Taisho' because it reminded him too much of his late father's title; The Great Inu No Taisho.

 

“Yes, Lord Uncle?” the way Taisho would speak to Sesshoumaru demonstrated a deep feeling of reverence, Yukiko only referred to her Uncle Inuyasha as just that; Uncle Inuyasha. Yet Taisho felt the obligation to address his uncle with his title as a well-recognised Demon Lord in mind.

 

“How are your parents?”

 

“My father is well and my mother is expecting my second sibling soon enough, Lord Uncle. She, and my younger brother, Koga are in great health as of my last visit. My father too is prosperous.”

 

“That is good to hear, Young Taisho.”

 

“Indeed, Lord Uncle.”

 

“Yukiko.”

 

“Yes, father?”

 

“Your mother appears to be falling ill, after the next night of the new moon she would like you to see her. Your brothers too desire your company.”

 

“Yes, father.”

 

“Young Taisho, you are welcome to join her – you are welcome in our home just as my children are in yours.”

 

“Yes, Lord Uncle, thank you.”


End file.
